Greater Perth Area
Experienced Oilfield Professional with over 35 years of experience working within culturally diverse teams. Adept at implementing a broad range of drilling technologies to achieve objectives. Recognized as an Industry Expert in the field of Extended Reach Drilling having been involved in the drilling of ERD wells in various worldwide basins from the earliest days of the implementation of Extended Reach Drilling Practices. Career highlights include: • Acting as the Schlumberger Co-Ordinator for the Montara Relief Well Project, Australia • Designing, implementing, and evolving the Drilling Engineering Structure within Schlumberger • Part of the Management team that has developed Merlin ERD into a Highly Awarded, Industry Recognized Leader • Re-engineering and supervising the drilling of the longest lateral drilled in Granite saving the operator c. 7M$ - Vietnam • ERD Supervision on edge of envelope 7.2:1 ERD wells for Vermillion Australia • Working as In-House engineer on a multi-well ERD project, helping to reduce total NPT from 66 days to 8 days / well – Norway • Involved in the engineering and drilling supervision of the longest land well in Australia for Beach Energy Limited – 7.2km, land to offshore, 3.1:1 ERD well Please note: If you are wondering why I have looked at your profile, it may be due to the fact that you have applied to join a closed group on LinkedIn that I help to manage, and I have been checking on your eligibility to be part of that group.
Moved back to Australia to help expand Merlin’s worldwide footprint. Rig Site Support for BHPBilliton, Inpex, Woodside, Vermilion, Beach Energy, Chevron, Cairn Energy India (Remote), Petronas Malaysia, PTTEP Malaysia, Petrofrac Malaysia, BP Indonesia (Remote), OMV New Zealand. Multiple training schools in Azerbaijan (BP), Malaysia (Murphy/PTTEP, Petronas, Shell & Halliburton), Abu Dhabi (ADNOC & ZADCO), Egypt (BP), Indonesia (Santos & BP), Australia (Inpex, Senex, Beach Energy, Santos, Woodside, QGC & CoP) & Oman (BP & Oxy). 18 months rotational in-house engineering support for a major multi-well ERD project in the Norwegian Sector North Sea (Lundin Norway) – sole engineer involved in the project supporting client engineering teams and offshore ERD Advisors on up to 3 rigs. Ad-hoc engineering studies as required. Develop Australia to the point that Merlin are the sole provider of ERD services in the country – 100% market share for all tendered work. Highlights include drilling 7:1 shallow (600mTVD) ERD Multi-lateral wells (Vermilion Australia), longest land well in Australia (Beach Energy), working with Inpex team in Australia to optimize drilling through highly unstable formations, slashing NPT and helping to set new benchmarks within Petronas team for ROP's in ERD wells.
Senior member of the award-winning management team that helped place Merlin ERD at the forefront of design and engineering of Extended Reach drilling. Manage technical team providing expert services for all aspects of high angle wells. Perform ERD feasibilities studies to determine & extend drilling reach from existing infrastructure. Draft and review detailed drilling engineering designs and programs, with major focus on critical ERD practices and applicable technology. Specification of rig equipment. Review problematic drilling operations, identify problem root cause(s) and action solutions to avoid recurrence. Develop and host training schools for deviated, complex and ERD wells.
Managed the development of a new, innovative business, into the Asia Pacific region. Responsible for all business development decisions, P&L, personnel training/mentoring and optimization engineering. Developed training packages for BHA Design, Torque & Drag Analysis, and acted as QC for other Drilling related training packages. Also performed the role of regional knowledge champion for drilling related questions/issues.
Transition between employers. Time spent with family to prepare for new adventures.
Managed the Drilling Engineering Center and OSC for the Australasian region. Had a culturally diverse team of 6 Drilling Engineers and 5 Operation Support engineers. Responsible for all well design decisions recommended to operators in the region. Drove compliance with Schlumberger’s standards and procedures, increasing compliance from the low 40% to the high 80% range for all relevant standards. 100% compliance for all points that I had 100% control over. Sole focal point (requested by the client) for Schlumberger’s services during the drilling of the Montara relief well off the north coast of Australia. Involved in Peer Reviews for ERD and other challenging well scenarios within the Asian region.
Focal point for all Drilling & Measurements services (M/LWD & Directional Drilling) on Apache, Chevron and Santos Rigs on the NW Shelf of Australia (up to 4 rigs). Provided coordination of all services and Drilling Engineering Support for various well types – exploration, multi-well platform, Deepwater Appraisal and ERD.
Challenged with developing the Drilling Engineering process for a Geomarket that was expanding from a 1 – 2 rig operation to a 10+ rig operation. Involved in hiring, internal talent recognition, training and mentoring and designing of the processes and procedures that would ultimately lead to a functioning well engineering team. Managed all Schlumberger D&M services on Apache Energy Ltd. (3 rigs) & Santos Offshore Ltd. (1 Rig). Performed the role of coordinator as well as Drilling Engineering support. Managed a developing team of 4 Drilling Engineers, 1 Drilling Technician, 6 Directional Drillers and 12 M/LWD Engineers.